Garrotes and Grenades
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: There are moments where a person realises exactly where they're supposed to be. Each member of Coulson's team also had the same realisation :: A drabble collection, focusing on each member of the team ::
1. Phil Coulson

When he walks into Nick's office after the nearly yearlong break, it's like nothing has changed at all.

"It's good to have you back," is all Nick says to acknowledge the months when he wasn't around. And then he hands him a file. "That's Grant Ward's file," he says, "I want him on your team."

"Since when did Ward develop superpowers?"

"He didn't," Nick replies. "The Avengers don't need you as a handler at the moment, especially not when they're currently under the impression that you're dead. You're being moved to deal with other superhuman threats – just because the Tesseract is gone doesn't mean it didn't leave an impact. Look at Ward's file, and let me know if I should promote him to level 7 clearance or not."

There's no mention of the events of his death or anything that followed, not even the Battle of Manhattan, and he's grateful for that. It's going to take him a bit of time to come to terms with what happened to him, and Nick trying to discuss it would not have helped at all.

He knows Nick. He's well aware that he's not going to be free of handling superhumans who act like twelve-year olds for the rest of his life – he knows how to deal with the Avengers without going crazy, and none of the other handlers were able to deal with Clint and Natasha together, let alone all six of them.

He'll be back to his old duties soon enough, but in the meantime – well, whatever it was that Nick was going to have him do was _definitely_ going to be easier than babysitting the Avengers.

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	2. Jemma Simmons

Agent Coulson approaches her first.

She and Leo – they're known as Fitz-Simmons all around S.H.I.E.L.D. They're a joined pair, two people who have never worked apart ever since they started working for the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Development. So when Coulson approaches her alone, she's rather nervous.

If she's being honest, she doesn't know how to work without Leo.

"What about Leo?" she asks immediately, instead of giving Coulson an answer. She needs to know the answer to that before she can consider the offer.

"I'll be asking him next," Coulson replies. "But I would like to have your reply first."

His words give her pause. If she agrees, and Leo doesn't, she's going to be thrown into the deep end without an anchor. But the opposite is always possible too.

She wants to work for Coulson. He's worked with Tony Stark, and she'd be lying if she didn't admit that she's holding out hope that working for him might mean bumping into the genius. Besides, he's the only one Fury trusts to work the really weird cases – and helping him out means front row seats to what will undoubtedly be the greatest show on earth.

She's meant to be on this team, she knows that. The only variable in her plan is an engineer by the name of Leo Fitz.

She's love to discuss this with him first, but Coulson will not leave without her answer, she's well aware of that. And in the end, this job is the right one for her.

She's just got to trust that Leo likes working with her just as much as she likes being partnered with him.

"I'm in," she says.

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	3. Leo Fitz

When Coulson offers him the job, there's really no way that he can refuse it. Especially when he confirms that he's asked Jemma first – Coulson knows that the two of them make a brilliant team, and there's no way the senior agent would have asked him without Jemma agreeing first.

Their first day on the job, Jemma's thrilled, just like she was when she first started at S.H.I.E.L.D. They aren't doing anything much yet – they haven't even been told where the first mission will be, only that they need to get a few new toys ready, just in case – but for Jemma, it's like being introduced to a whole new world.

For him, it's nothing special. As far as he's concerned, he's only transferred from one section to another, and the only reason he had done it was because of his currently hyperactive best friend.

Of course, that only lasts until Coulson makes it clear that he expects them to have two extra pieces of whatever offensive weapons they cook up. It's not something he predicts will happen often – or, if he has it way, at all – but he expects them to be prepared just in case they're forced to get into the field.

He doesn't exactly fill the typical mold of a secret agent, and he's more than happy to admit that he prefers his lab. But there's absolutely no S.H.I.E.L.D agent who hasn't dreamt of getting at least some time in the field, regardless of where they're actually qualified to be.

And if this team gives him even one chance of that-

Well, he can suddenly see why Jemma's so excited.

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**A/N: As far as I can tell, there's absolutely no way that Coulson would let any of the team members be unprepared for any eventuality, even one that has Fitz-Simmons actually handling guns, instead of just building them.  
****I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


	4. Grant Ward

Honestly, he had absolutely no idea why Fury had decided to reassign him to a team instead of letting him do what he did best – work alone. Sure, finding out that Coulson was alive was a thrill, and he definitely didn't mind the promotion that went along with being a member of the team.

But still. It was exactly that – a team. And he didn't exactly work well with others.

When Skye joined them, helping them look for Peterson, he was even surer of the fact that this really wasn't the place for him. Of course, the fact that Coulson happened to dose him with truth serum and allowed Skye to grill him didn't help at all.

But then they were in the middle of a train station, and there was a rifle in his hands and a possibly insane, definitely super powered human was standing there screaming at Coulson. And as he aimed, ready to fire the moment this turned ugly – and he knew it would, there really was no other option – something in him settled.

Before, he'd helped nameless people, never really knowing just whom his actions were affecting. But here, he had _seen_ the people fleeing, people who would have been in danger if it weren't for S.H.I.E.L.D, for this team.

He still wasn't sold on being a part of a team and trusting people who weren't himself, but he could work through that. As he let the bullet fly, he knew for certain that this was where he belonged.

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**I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


	5. Melinda May

There are reasons – good ones – for the fact that she refuses to go into the field anymore. She knows what they say about her, that even though she used to be one of the best agents to get into the field, she had lost her nerve completely after what had happened.

She's more than happy to let them believe that. She can still function just as well as always in the field, she knows that better than anyone, but she's not ready to lose another team. She's not ready to let herself care.

When Coulson approaches her, offering her a new job, one that takes her away from her desk and fortress of protection that she's built, her reaction is visceral. She _cannot_ let herself be put in that position again.

But Phil Coulson isn't known as the best handler in S.H.I.E.L.D for nothing. He pushes and pokes at her, until there's no way she can continue to argue. So she agrees – she'll fly the bus for her, just like he asked, but she won't step into the field. She won't do that again – there's nothing that builds bonds between a team more than fighting together.

And then they're called to Peru to track a 0-8-4, and there's no way she can stay away. Not when they need her.

Because as much as she's tried to fight, it had only taken her one mission to get attached all over again. No matter how much she protests, she knows that this is _her_ team now, and she's not about to let anything happen to them.

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**A/N: I have no idea why May was so unwilling to be part of a team, but there has to be something to it. This is just my shot in the dark :)  
I hope you guys liked it, and as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


	6. Skye

She's always lived her life away from anything to do with the government. After what happened to her parents – well, she doesn't exactly trust government agencies, and after the mess that was the Battle of Manhattan, that belief has been validated over and over again.

They had known about superhumans – superheroes, they call them now – and hadn't said a word. Iron Man was a well-known figure, but had been it. No one from the general populace had known about Thor, or Loki, or the fact that the Norse legends weren't legends after all – and they hadn't known about the aliens out there, baying for their blood. If they had known, maybe there wouldn't have been so many casualties, so many deaths.

But the world had been betrayed by the people they had put their trust in.

So she spends her time exposing the sheer number of the superpowered individuals that were a part of their lives. The people had a right to know, and she – and the Rising Tide – would help them do so. The fact that being associated with the group allowed her to have some hope of finding out about her parents is only the icing on the cake.

But then Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D waltz into her life, and everything changes. She's expecting them to be just like everyone other agent she's had the bad luck to bump into, but then he injects his partner-subordinate-whatever with a truth serum and lets her lose.

He trusts her, and she cannot remember the last time that happened. It touches her in a place she had been sure she'd closed off a long, _long_ time ago.

Meeting Fitz-Simmons only makes her like this place all the more. They're adorable and endearing, and absolutely nothing like what a secret agent is supposed to be – that's more Ward's thing, it seems.

The two of them are geeks after their own heart, and she really doesn't want to leave. So when Coulson offers her a job – well, she offers up the token protest, of course, but they both know that she's going to accept.

She may have to keep up with the Rising Tide for her parents, but they don't have her loyalty any longer.

Coulson and his team do.

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**A/N: And here ends this fic...I hope you guys liked this last edition!  
I might add a new chapter if there are new agents introduced to the team, but as of now, the character analysis of Coulson's team is complete, despite how sad I am to see this fic go. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride, and as always, please don't forget to leave a review telling me your feelings about this fic on your way out :)**


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